Jim Kelly, 74; Former Mayor, Councilman in South El Monte
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Former South El Monte Mayor Jim Kelly, 74, died of cancer Tuesday at a hospital in Tehachapi, Calif., the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported.
Kelly was elected to the City Council in March 1976. He served as vice mayor from June 1977 to March 1978, and rotated into the position of mayor in March 1979. Then the rules changed and mayor became an office directly elected by residents.
Kelly was elected mayor in 1980 and retired from the council in April 1984, but was reelected to the council in 1986 and stayed an additional two terms, leaving in 1994.
Born in Ohio, Kelly moved to South El Monte after serving in the Navy from 1950 to 1954.
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